Friends: I used to buy Trojans. My vendor told me about 3 years ago that Trojan had been acquired and the chemistry in the plates had changed. Later they denied making that statement.
I had a set of L16s vastly underperform. Trojan suggest a bulk/absorption voltage higher than any other manufacturer, a value hard to achieve and maintain in a small off grid system. I replaced them with US Battery and system performance improved. Due to the decline in quality I stopped using Trojan. Due to the varying stories, I stopped using Battery Systems. We prefer the MK/Deka brand. William > On Sep 12, 2018, at 11:33 AM, Ray <r...@solarray.com> wrote: > > Unfortunately I'm seeing premature failures of the 2 v models even more. You > have paralleled cells in each battery, and it can be difficult to even > identify the failures. I found the infared camera to be invaluable, as you > can see the shorted cell clearly in a thermal image. > Ray Walters > Remote Solar > 303 505-8760 >> On 9/12/18 9:53 AM, Drake wrote: >> I agree with the comments that followed on this thread, and would also like >> to add that Trojan L-16 batteries have a high rate of premature failure. >> Possibly the 2 V cells are better, but the 6 V cells seem very prone to >> dying early. Trojan batteries were robust in past decades, but seem >> exceedingly fragile now. >> >> At 08:44 PM 9/11/2018, you wrote: >>> Hello wrenches, >>> >>> I inspected a system that another company had installed. It had single >>> string of 12 x Trojan L16RE-2V batteries about 2 years old. They had >>> experienced a battery melt-down. It looks as though the meltdown had >>> occurred internally, not from a bad connection. >>> >>> The system was dual stack Outback VFXR-3524A inverters (to be precise one >>> was a sealed unit). The set-points were as follows: >>> Absorb Voltage was 29.8V >>> Absorb Time was 6.0 hours >>> Float Voltage was 27.0V >>> Rebulk Voltage was 27.0V >>> End Amps was 0A >>> >>> These settings extended similarly to 2 x FM80 charge controllers. >>> >>> I was able to jumper the melted battery and get her power in 15 >>> minutes. Her installer had left her without power for 2 weeks. My >>> clients will kill me if that happened! >>> >>> Anyway, I believe these set-points are way out of whack and too >>> aggressive. The voltage is OK (Trojan recommends ~29.6V for this) but the >>> Absorb time seems way too long, Rebulk is too high and end amps isn't >>> helping. However, Im not finding a definitive article from Trojan that >>> describes typical Absorb times or even how to adjust towards a good Absorb >>> Time, based on specific gravity measurements or amperage absorption.  >>> >>> My diagnosis is that these batteries have been cooked over the past 2 >>> years. In the electrolyte, there is noticeable "floaties". The client >>> said that the original installer had accused her of not using distilled >>> water, but I don't believe that would cause her symptoms. I believe the >>> floaties are plate material. >>> >>> I'd be interested in wrenches opinions familiar with these batteries if >>> these are appropriate settings for a low energy user. I will attempt to >>> get through to Trojan as well. >>> >>> Thanks in advance >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> >>> >>> Mac Lewis >>> >>> "Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>> >>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> >>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> List-Archive: >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html >>> >>> List rules & etiquette: >>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>> >>> Check out or update participant bios: >>> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org >
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